State of Wisconsin overtime

State of Wisconsin overtime costs dropped by nearly $14 million last year, a reduction of 22 percent in the first full year after Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial Act 10 changes to collective bargaining.

More than half of that reduction came from the Department of Corrections, which cut its overtime cost by $8.5 million to $29.2 million in 2012. Other large reductions came from the departments of transportation ($1.6 million), health services ($1.3 million) and workforce development ($1 million).

The statewide overtime total fell from $63.1 million in 2011 to $49.4 million in 2012.

“These structural reforms saved taxpayers more than a billion dollars, including millions of dollars in state employee overtime,” Walker said in a statement. “These savings were achieved because of strong leadership and effective management at each agency.”

Act 10 allowed government managers to change how overtime is accrued without going through collective bargaining.

The policy changes — which took effect throughout state government in January 2012 — allow time-and-a-half overtime only after 40 working hours in a week. Previously, sick time and vacation time counted toward the 40 hours.

The Department of Corrections’ overtime reduction is slightly smaller compared to numbers provided in January, which showed a $9.7 million reduction. The drop in corrections overtime was first reported earlier this year as part of the Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team’s “What We Pay” series, detailing public employee compensation across all levels of government.

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Department of Administration spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis attributed the difference to payroll systems. She said the $9.7 million number was calculated based on the DOC payroll system, while the agency breakdown released now is from the state’s central payroll.

“Each agency has their own payroll system, so DOC may have made some additional adjustments that were not sent to our central payroll staff,” Marquis said in an e-mail.

Marquis has said work rule changes in DOC were key to overtime reductions. Overtime that had been offered on a seniority basis — ensuring more overtime for higher-paid, senior employees — is now made available on a rotation, with each employee offered equal extra work.

With about 10,000 employees, DOC is the sixth-largest employer in Wisconsin.

On a percentage basis, the state’s Department of Revenue had by far the largest overtime reduction in 2012, dropping from $156,000 to just over $1,400. The Department of Workforce Development dropped by 58 percent to $708,000.

Overtime costs increased in 2012 in 11 of the 38 state agencies, led on a percentage basis by the Government Accountability Board. The agency, which oversaw the recall elections for Walker and numerous legislators, increased its overtime use from $3,000 in 2011 to $44,000 in 2012.

The largest numerical increases came from Wisconsin State Fair Park (up $87,000, or 39 percent) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (up $85,000, or 4 percent).

The $49.4 million in overall state overtime in 2012 included $40.1 million in time and a half overtime and $9.3 million in overtime paid at the regular hourly rate.

Total state overtime was $52.7 million in 2010 and $54.2 million in 2009.